Chewy Date and Nut Bars.

These happened because I realized I only had 3 sticks of butter left in the fridge and panicked, but I loved them so much that I'd make them even if I had 3lbs. left!  You'd never know there wasn't any butter in these cookies, I swear!  If you're a chewy fan, you must preheat the oven now.

Feel free to substitute any nut -  I used almonds, but typically walnuts are the partner for dates.  I'd also suggest using any dried fruit you'd like as long as it amounts to 5 ounces, but I'm rather partial to dates and their sticky sweetness :)

  
Chewy Date and Nut Bars
Adapted from Go Dairy Free
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup (4 ounces) sliced almonds
1 cup (5 ounces) dates, chopped

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. and line an 8x8" glass baking pan with foil, then grease the foil with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder.  In a larger bowl, whisk the eggs until they're lightened, then add the brown sugar and flour mixture, stirring until almost completely  mixed, then add in the nuts and dates.  Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the top is just golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, 12-18 minutes.

Let the bars cool completely in the pan before cutting into squares and store airtight up to 4 days.

Tiny Sugar Saucers.

Even though temperatures were above 90 degrees last week, it didn't lessen my desire to bake and eat sweet things, unfortunately!  I made the dough for these during the day when it was hot, chilled the dough overnight and then baked them in the morning before the house warmed up too much so no one would yell at me :)

This recipe comes from Rebecca Rather's Pastry Queen book that I love.  She says the recipe makes 12 large cookies or 24 smaller ones, but I easily got 140 little cookies out of this amount of dough!  I love making little cookies, they're much more fun to eat.

You can add lemon zest to the dough or dip the baked and cooled cookies in chocolate, I decided to sprinkle them with coarse decorating sugar for a little sparkle.  Either way, these are amazingly tender and addictive cookies that everyone will love.

Tiny Sugar Saucers
Adapted from The Pastry Queen: Royally Good Recipes From the Texas Hill Country's Rather Sweet Bakery & Cafe
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the butter and oil until very light and creamy.  Add in the sugars and mix to combine, then stir in the egg and vanilla extract.

Add the flour, baking soda and salt all at once and stir until a smooth dough forms.  Cover the dough and chill for at least an hour or up to 2 days.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and line baking sheets with parchment paper.  Scoop out little teaspoon-sized balls of dough and flatten slightly, then sprinkle with coarse decorating sugar.  Bake until lightly golden brown around the edges, 8-10 minutes.

Let cool completely on a wire rack, then store airtight for up to 5 days.

Zucchini Bread.

A few days ago, my grandma came by with our first batch of zucchini from her garden.  I knew as soon as it wasn't too lethal to turn on the oven that I'd be making zucchini bread!  (P.S. I am loving this hot weather!!!)  My mom has used this recipe for as long as I can remember and the smell of it baking always reminds me of summertime.

Over time I've cut down significantly on the sugar and oil, but I think it's perfect this way - not too moist, it's not too dry, it's perfect with tea or coffee at breakfast.  We always serve it with butter and cream cheese to spread on thick slices :)

Zucchini Bread
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped, toasted walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and grease a 9 or 10" tube pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.  In another bowl, combine the brown sugar, eggs and oil.  Stir the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients until almost mixed, adding in the zucchini and walnuts at the end and mixing until just combined.

Scrape the batter into prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes to an hour.  It's done with the top has risen and cracked and a toothpick or knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.

This keeps well in an airtight container up to 4 days.

Wedding Shower Cookies.

For most of my life, one set of my cousins have lived in a different city from me.  So when one of them gets married, it's a nice excuse to get together with everyone and catch up.  Of course, it's also an excuse to bake!

I did a bit of research before making these cookies and found that bloggers seemed to be raving over Peggy Porschen's sugar cookies.  From pictures, they looked like they did not spread at all, and that's exactly what I wanted.

I loved that the recipe was given in grams as well as cups, I just measured everything on the scale and then mixed.

Peggy Porschen's Sugar Cookie Recipe
200 grams granulated sugar
200 grams unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
400 grams all-purpose flour

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the sugar and butter, then add the egg and vanilla.  Stir in the flour until the dough forms, then wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Roll out the dough to 1/4" inch thick, then cut out with desired shapes and place on parchment-lined baking sheets.  Refrigerate the shapes for 30 minutes, or until they're firm to the touch.

Bake in a 350 degree oven, until very light golden on the edges and set in the middle.  Let cool completely before baking.  These can also be frozen up to 2 months ahead of time.

Royal Icing
1/4 cup meringue powder
1/2 cup water
4 cups confectioner's sugar

In a mixing bowl, combine the meringue powder and water, then whisk on high until soft peaks form.  Add in the confectioner's sugar and beat until you have a desired consistency for either flooding or piping.

For the little icing roses on the cookies, I used royal icing, dyed it the two different colors, and followed the instructions somewhat on this site.